Sherry's Army plans to continue city cleanup

Sherry’s Army is gearing up for another campaign in Wellington to clean up neighborhoods.

Sherry’s Army is gearing up for another campaign in Wellington to clean up neighborhoods.

The volunteer group has been cleaning up yards and streets for three years, and they will take on the west side of town this year. They hope to begin the last Saturday in March.

Organizer Sherry Wiley said once they complete the west side, they will have covered the entire city.

“Then we will start over,” she added.

Wiley and Kenny More started the group three years ago after discussing the state of the city. They looked around at yards and alleyways, and decided they would try to make a difference.They approached the city and the city agreed to let them dump refuse for free, which was something that was essential to the operation.

Volunteers have done all the work with Wiley organizing. Many of the volunteers have trucks. The city also provides a garbage truck that is parked in the area where they are working.

They have areas they take on, and before they go, they put out flyers in that area letting people know they are coming.

Often, these are elderly people who cannot move things by themselves, or people who don’t have a truck to haul off large items.

People are asked to put their stuff at the curb. If it cannot be moved there, they are asked to be outside at 8 a.m. to tell the group where things are.

Wiley said she usually gets 25-30 volunteers to help out. Sometimes people do it as a community service, and sometimes families get involved.

There are some limitations however. If someone tears down a building and leaves a pile of lumber, they won’t take that, she explained.

She is hoping for a good group of volunteers the first Saturday in March.

“It is just so hot in July to work,” she said. She hopes to get a sizeable dent put in the work this spring before it gets hot.